Radio controlled toy vehicles are well known and have grown to constitute a significant specialty toy market.
Toy manufacturers attempt to duplicate well known vehicles, as well as the latest in automotive developments, including specialty entertainment vehicles. In addition, manufacturers constantly seek new ways and features to add innovative action to such toys to make such vehicles more versatile and/or entertaining.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,429,543, for example, discloses a remote controlled toy vehicle with six wheels, three wheels on each side. The vehicle is balanced such that the vehicle is normally supported by the center pair of wheels and the rear pair of wheels. The vehicle is dynamically balanced such that when the wheels of the center pair are driven in opposite directions, the vehicle pitches forward and the vehicle is supported only by the central pair of wheels. The vehicle spins rapidly on the central pair of wheels about a central vertical axis.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,762,533, for example, discloses a remote controlled toy vehicle with wheels that are adjustably eccentrically mounted on the chassis relative to the axis of rotation of each wheel. This adjustable eccentric mounting permits various permutations of wheel locations relative to the chassis, providing different handling characteristics of the vehicle for each wheel location.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,727,985, for example, discloses a remote controlled toy vehicle having a chassis with two xe2x80x9cfrontxe2x80x9d and two xe2x80x9crearxe2x80x9d wheels with balloon tires. The tires are resilient and can be elastically compressed against an obstacle. The wheels are mounted on the chassis such that the tires define an outer perimeter of the vehicle. The location of the chassis is wholly within the perimeter; no portion of the vehicle extends beyond the outer perimeter. The resiliency of the tires allows the vehicle to perform a variety of tumbling and deflecting maneuvers. One wheel on each side of the vehicle disclosed in this patent is powered by its own electric motor. Certain commercial versions have both wheels on each side of the vehicle driven by the two motors through separate drive trains in the chassis on each side of the vehicle.
In one embodiment, the present invention is a toy vehicle comprising: chassis having a front end, a rear end and first and second lateral sides; a first pair of wheels located on the first lateral side, the wheels of the first pair being the frontmost and rearmost wheels on the first lateral side; a second pair of wheels located on the second lateral side the wheels of the second pair being the frontmost and rearmost wheels on the second lateral side of the chassis; at least one prime mover on the chassis drivingly coupled with at least one of the first pair of wheels; characterized by a first beam pivotally mounted to the first lateral side of the chassis approximately halfway between the front end and the rear end, the first pair of wheels being rotatably mounted on the first beam, distal from the chassis.